Xconq
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Developer(s) | Stan Shebs, Greg Fisher, Robert Forsman, Alain Brossard, Michael Peters, etc. |
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Initial release | 1987(Version 1.0) |
Repository | xconq.cvs.sourceforge.net |
Platform | Unix/Linux/X11,Macintosh,AmigaandWindows |
Type | Single-player,multiplayer,4X,turn-based strategy |
License | GPL-2.0-or-later |
Website | sourceware![]() |
Xconqis anopen-sourcecomputerstrategy game.Thismultiplayer video gamewas first posted tocomp.sources.gameson 9 July 1987. Xconqis released asfree and open-source softwareunder the terms of theGNU GPL-2.0-or-later.
Gameplay
[edit]Originally a straightforwardcloneofEmpire,later versions included the ability to define rulesets for different kinds of games,[1]first using aForth-like syntax, then a more powerful version based onLispsyntax. It was also ported to other computer systems, includingMacintosh,Amiga,andWindows.
Xconqis designed to beportableand re-definable. The default ruleset is similar toEmpire,but the ruleset, graphics, and maps can be altered to represent different time periods and strategic scales. Example rulesets provided with the game include Napoleonic strategy, Beirut guerilla fighting, World War IIgrand strategy,andGodzilladestroying Tokyo. It can be played by multiple human or AI-controlled players over a network or viahot seatplay.
History
[edit]Stan Shebs started working on a simpleEmpireclone in 1986, initially usingCursesfor its interface, then adding anX10interface.[2]He posted this version to comp.sources.games in July 1987.[3]It used a map based on squares rather than hexes, and supported multiple players by exploiting X's capability for a single program to open windows on multiple displays, although it accepted input from only the player whose turn it was; other players could not even scroll their map display. Even this first version included support for three rulesets (the "standard" Empire-like game, a Napoleonic-era game, and ancient Greeks), but they were defined by C structures and had to be compiled in.
Shebs switched the game to use hex-based maps, added a postfix language to define the ruleset to be used when a game started, and changed the X interface to allow all players to interact simultaneously; these versions were numbered 2, 3, and 4, but were not released widely. After the addition of anX11interface written byChris Peterson,version 5.0 was posted to comp.sources.games (as "xconq5" ) in June 1988.
1989 saw the first attempt at a client/server version,uconq.
The Macintoshportwas developed in 1993.
Although work had started on version 7.5, there has been little development since 2004, with the lastCVScommit made in 2007.[4]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Rosen, Kenneth H.; Douglas A. Host; Rachel Klee; Richard R. Rosinski (2007).UNIX: The Complete Reference.McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 780.ISBN978-0-07-226336-7.
- ^Re: Family tree of xconq,by Stan Shebs, on the xconq7 mailing list, Mon, 02 Oct 2006 09:38:57 -0700
- ^"xconq - multiplayer strategy game for X-windows, Part02/07".Newsgroup:comp.sources.games.Usenet:[email protected].v01i082: xconq - multiplayer strategy game for X-windows[sic], Part02/07,in comp.sources.games
- ^forum_name=xconq-cvsonsourceforge.net
See also
[edit]External links
[edit]- Computer wargames
- Turn-based strategy video games
- Open-source video games
- Strategy video games
- 1987 video games
- Windows games
- Unix games
- Amiga games
- Linux games
- Classic Mac OS games
- MacOS games
- Video game clones
- 4X video games
- Video game engines
- Video games developed in the United States
- Free software that uses Tk (software)